Solar Bears' Allan Bester decides to retire

By Javier Solano
of The Sentinel Staff

Published in The Orlando Sentinel, August 8, 1998

His 15th pro hockey season was the toughest, half of it lost to ankle surgery and the other half struggling to regain his NHL-honed form. Orlando Solar Bears goaltender Allan Bester, now 34 with three daughters, has decided that it would be his last.

Bester, one of the original three players signed by the Solar Bears in July of 1995, announced his retirement on Friday.

``I just felt it was time,'' said Bester, who played 219 NHL games (73-99-17, 4.01 goals against average), most of them with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1983-91). ``Fifteen years is a nice round number. I've had a great career. Hockey's been wonderful to me... . It's time for my family to come first.''

Bester was at the end of his three-year contract with the Solar Bears, who did not re-sign him after an injury-torn season (13-8-1, 2.98 GAA). Happily settled in the Dr. Phillips area and unwilling to play elsewhere, Bester chose to close his career.

``I just didn't feel I was playing up to the level I expect of myself,'' said Bester. ``And that affects me emotionally and mentally... . I don't want to let my team down.''

Before his arrival, Bester led the Adirondack Red Wings (American Hockey League) to the 1992 Calder Cup and earned All-Star Game selections in his first two International Hockey League seasons, playing for the defunct San Diego Gulls.

When former Gulls and Solar Bears General Manager Don Waddell, now GM of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, took on the IHL expansion project in Orlando, he brought his money goaltender with him. Bester became the pillar of an instant title contender.

He led the start-up Solar Bears to the Turner Cup Finals in 1996, earning a 10-game stint with the Dallas Stars (NHL) along the way. The following season, Bester won 14 consecutive games during Orlando's record-tying 18-game unbeaten streak, posting career-best marks in victories (37) and goals-against average (2.54 GAA).

Midway through the season, however, Bester started losing stability on his right side, citing a sore ankle that was limiting his lateral motion.

Bester played last year's opener, losing to Quebec, 5-4, before magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed damage to his peronial tendon. He had surgery Oct. 17 and didn't play for three months.

When he returned from rehabilitation, Bester split time with free-agent pickup David Littman -- a stopgap signing who became the Solar Bears' top goaltender, now the only one returning for next season.

Bester's comeback had some good moments, including five consecutive victories and a shutout. But the instability returned, and he made only one start in the playoffs, posting an 8-6 victory over Indianapolis in Game 3 of first round. It would be his last start for the Solar Bears.

``He was still playing well, right to the end,'' Solar Bears captain Hubie McDonough said. ``Then the ankle injury kind of set him back, and he never could get on his feet again.''

Bester's retirement leaves only four holdovers from Orlando's first IHL season: McDonough, Mark Beaufait, Pat Neaton and Todd Richards, the last of the original three Solar Bears. General Manager John Weisbrod did not exercise the option to re-sign goaltender Scott LaGrand, another Year One holdover. But he has not ruled out LaGrand's possible return, either.

[Posted 08/07/98 11:23 PM EST]